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(CIDRAP News) – Canadian officials said today that 19 million poultry in southwestern British Columbia's Fraser Valley would be destroyed in a vastly expanded campaign to stop highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reported today on cases of H7 influenza in two poultry workers who had contact with infected birds in the outbreak area. The two patients both had conjunctivitis and have recovered, the WHO said.

(CIDRAP News) – US officials this week proposed that the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) be called on to help resolve the US trade dispute with Japan over bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). But Japan, to the chagrin of US officials, reportedly plans to reject the proposal.

(CIDRAP News) – China, including Hong Kong, and Singapore have begun to drop some of their procedures and safeguards related to SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) after going 2 months or longer with no confirmed cases.

(CIDRAP News) – The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is urging Bayer Corp. to comply with a proposed federal regulatory action and withdraw enrofloxacin (Baytril) from the market because of the concern that its use in poultry promotes drug-resistant bacteria.

(CIDRAP News) – Texas officials announced today that the state's outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) has been eradicated, after 352 noncommercial poultry flocks in the area were found to be free of the disease.

Meanwhile, a battle with a different strain of AI in southern British Columbia continued, as Canadian officials said yesterday they had confirmed the disease on a seventh farm in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture's food safety division has invited researchers to apply for grants of up to $75,000 to develop technologies to help small meat, poultry, and egg product plants meet food safety requirements.

Editor's note: This story was revised Apr 1, 2004, to include additional information from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

(CIDRAP News) – An experimental vaccine developed by federal researchers prevented the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) coronavirus from reproducing in laboratory mice, according to a report published in the Apr 1 issue of Nature.

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is delaying the implementation of food security rules that would require most food businesses to keep detailed records on their handling of food products and would allow the FDA to hold potentially contaminated food.

(CIDRAP News) – Following through on plans announced yesterday, Vietnamese authorities today said the nation has defeated avian flu and that poultry operations can return to normal.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) yesterday announced it has certified seven state laboratories to help test cattle samples for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the agency's expanded BSE surveillance program.

(CIDRAP News) – Vietnamese agriculture officials said Vietnam would declare itself free of avian influenza tomorrow, major news services reported today.

Bui Quang Anh, director of the Ministry of Agriculture's Veterinary Department, said today that officials will make an announcement tomorrow afternoon so that the country can start rebuilding its poultry flocks, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

(CIDRAP News) – In the face of recent avian influenza outbreaks and resulting import bans on US poultry, a partnership of government and industry groups is moving toward a major increase in testing for the disease in US flocks.

(CIDRAP News) – Researchers report that they have mapped the complete genome of the intestinal parasite Cryptosporidium parvum, an achievement that they hope will lead to new strategies for battling a hard-to-treat illness.

(CIDRAP News) – An experimental plague vaccine completely protected mice that were bitten by fleas carrying the plague pathogen, in a study that reproduced the natural transmission pathway for bubonic plague, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID).

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says it sees a lower risk for further cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States than was described recently by an international panel of experts on the disease.

(CIDRAP News) – Dutch researchers report that they have discovered a new human coronavirus—a close relative of the agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)—that causes respiratory illness in infants and immunocompromised adults.

(CIDRAP News) – South Korea today reported its first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in more than 6 weeks.

News of the Korean outbreak came 2 days after Vietnam reported its 16th human death from H5N1 avian flu and 3 days after international animal health officials again warned Asian countries not to declare victory over the disease too soon.

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed its recommendations for next season's influenza vaccine, calling for inclusion of the A Fujian viral strain that caused most flu cases in the United States this winter.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed today that it has licensed two different rapid screening tests for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) for use in USDA laboratories.

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moved a step closer this week to banning the use of a fluoroquinolone antibiotic in poultry on the ground that the drug promotes the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can harm human health.